Download The Story of Icarus

The Story of Icarus – Retold in Modern English
Provided by Shmoop.com, with small
amendments by Ms. Harter
Daedalus is an Athenian craftsman, famous for his ability to invent and build things. Think Leonardo da Vinci,
but with more powers. Unfortunately, he also has a jealous streak. When his nephew (Talus) invents the saw,
Daedalus realizes that the boy might be more talented than he is. Not good.
In a fit of jealousy, Daedalus throws Talos off the Acropolis, a tall monument in Athens. That'll teach him not to
invent any more carpentry tools. Some people say that Athena (the Greek goddess of wisdom) saw the boy falling,
and transformed him into a partridge. But others argue that Talos died and that Daedalus tried to hide the murder by
burying him. Well… those are very different endings. But anyway:
Either because he was feeling guilty or because he was banished, Daedalus leaves Athens and heads to the
island of Crete. While he's hanging out there, Daedalus befriends King Minos, the island's ruler. (It pays to have
friends in high places.) Daedalus still has the inventor’s touch in Crete and he continues his building streak. First, he
builds a cow suit so that Crete's queen (Pasiphae) can marry with a bull. Yes, we said bull... she was cursed by the
sea god, Posiedon, to fall in love with it. Awkward! Queen Pasiphae's union with the bull results in a horrible halfman, half-bull called the Minotaur. Heard of him?
Next up, King Minos (the half-beast's step-dad) asks Daedalus to design a maze (the Labyrinth) in which to put
the terrible Minotaur. The Minotaur demands human sacrifices, and every nine years, King Minos sends seven
young men and women into the Labyrinth to meet their doom. One of these victims sent to his death is the hero
Theseus. This guy is tough and he decides to fight back and try to kill the Minotaur. King Minos' daughter, Ariadne,
falls madly in love with Theseus. And since Daedalus built the Labyrinth, she asks him to help Theseus safely
navigate it. Always the helpful one, Daedalus gives Theseus a ball of yarn, and tells the hero to trail it behind him,
creating a roadmap for how to get back out. Genius, we say! And sure enough, after Theseus kills the Minotaur, he
is able to escape. He and Ariadne leave Crete together.
King Minos is not happy with Daedalus for helping Theseus, so he locks Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in the
Labyrinth to get eaten by the minotaur. (Some versions of the story say that King Minos actually imprisoned them in
a tower. Still others say that Minos just ordered every ship surrounding the island to be searched, making it
impossible for Daedalus and Icarus to escape. Any way you look at it, Daedalus and Icarus are trapped on Crete.)
Clearly our genius inventor won't take this sitting down. Knowing that the land and water are guarded by King
Minos' army, Daedalus decides to escape by air. Brilliant! Daedalus uses twine, feathers, and wax to build large
wings for himself and his son. (According to Ovid, Icarus goofed around while Daddy Daedalus was making the
wings. He played with the feathers and wax and just generally got in his dad's way. Ah, kids.) Finally, the wings
were finished. Daedalus tries his set on and—OMG—they totally work. He hangs in the air for a few seconds,
flapping his fake wings. Nice!
Before putting wings on Icarus, Daedalus gives his son some warnings: he should follow him closely and fly at a
middle height. If he flies too low, the seawater will dampen the wings, and if he flies too high, the sun will melt them.
He reminds his son about this several times. Several. Daedalus is a little scared about the journey: the big softy
cries while tying the wings onto his son, and gives his little guy a hug. And off they go! Daedalus looks back at his
son, cheering him on.
A bunch of people on the ground, including a shepherd and a plowman, stop their work to gaze up at Daedalus
and Icarus. They're completely blown away at the sight of two people flying in the air—they figure that Daedalus and
Icarus might be gods, since no human has ever achieved flight before! In all the excitement, Icarus forgets his
father's warning and starts to fly higher. Sure enough, he gets too close to the sun: the heat softens the wax, and his
wings quickly fall apart. Icarus plummets into the sea, crying "Father, father!" on his way down, but there’s no way
Daedalus can reach him in time.
Daedalus tries to save his son, but it's too late—he has drowned. The only thing Daedalus can find are feathers
floating in the water. For the first time ever, Daedalus curses his "art" (i.e., his crafting skills). That's what got him
into this mess to begin with. Daedalus names the part of the ocean where Icarus fell the "Icarian Sea." (This, by the
way, is a real place!)